But the sadness in her eyes, the way it turned them a dull sand color…it made him want to make things better. Do whatever she damn well asked. And he had no idea why.
CHAPTER 5
Holy heck, it had been a long day. Fires needed putting out left, right, and center, and Shelley had dumped a million jobs on Bonnie that weren’t hers to do.
Now it was eight, she was still at work, and the grant application that she was only just finishing had a deadline that closed in thirty minutes.
But the good news? She was done.
Submit. Thank God.
She leaned back in her seat and rubbed her eyes. Shelley, of course, had taken herself home hours ago. But then, Shelley was the boss and could apparently do whatever she wanted.
As the laptop shut down, she packed her things, groaning at the darkness outside through the window. Great. She’d be walking home in the dark.
She was passing the bathroom in the hall when she stopped and frowned. What was that? It sounded like someone was in there breathing so heavily she could hear it from the hall.
She pressed her ear to the door. The sound got louder.
Her gaze lifted to the hall, then back to the door. There was a counselor here somewhere. But she wasn’t sure where; they might be with one of the women.
Gently, Bonnie knocked on the wood.
The breathing quieted.
“Hello? This is Bonnie, the program coordinator. I just wanted to check that you were okay.”
Another beat of silence. It stretched so long she thought no one was going to answer. Then the door creaked open. It was the same woman from a couple of weeks ago. “Sarah?”
The other woman’s brows flickered. “Bonnie.”
“Are you okay?”
It took Sarah a moment to answer. “I-I’m fine. I’m just having a bad day with everything.”
“Is this about your ex?”
The woman’s eyes flared. “I think he tried to call me today.”
“You think?”
“I had a missed call from the prison.” Her breathing sped up.
Bonnie stepped forward. “Hey. Why don’t you breathe with me for a second?” She sucked in a deep breath and held it for a few seconds before easing it out.
Sarah copied her.
“There you go.” She repeated it, and so did Sarah. They continued to breathe in silence until Bonnie was sure the other woman was steadier. “Feel better?”
Sarah gave a small nod.
“You don’t have to answer any calls you don’t want to,” Bonnie said firmly.
“I know. But just seeing the call scared me. It made me think that he’s never going to let us go. I didn’t let Chett leave my side all day. I’m so scared for him all the time.”
“I can understand that. But you’re both safe here.”
She nodded again.
